I was Invited to participate in a competition to develop a proposal for the design of a supercomputer, used for scientific calculations. Unfortunately, I didn't win :/

The competition was organized by C/O; the university who runs the computer wants to stay anonymous.

My plan was to make a unique design for each rig. Because of the short time I had for this proposal, I only made one sketch and used it twice in the simulations.

My idea for the design was to celebrate its computing power by turning it into a huge blow up of a gaming PC. It‘s the total opposite of its current aesthetic - a super powerful machine that looks like a black box, literally and figuratively. All its hardware parts are hidden behind dark doors. Also you would never expect it to be the powerful machine it actually is.

I wanted to turn this understatement into its opposite, creating a fantasy version of the computer that shows off its power rather than hiding it. To give it a surreal twist, I will add huge Raptor scratches on the back of both rigs, adding an extra feeling of superpower and loss of control. Additionally, the final design would have had more organic elements like pieces of wood, teeth etc. to create a contrast to the technical vibe of the whole design.

The work should have had a classic 3D render look: more detailed than in my sketches, but with a typical computer graphic simplicity.

When I visited the server room to see the rigs myself, I quickly realized that I needed to treat the two boxes as three dimensional objects in a room, not just as displays for big pictures I could be making.

There are some other things I was planning to do that I also couldn‘t integrate in my sketch - see my moodboard at the end to get an idea of the vibe, atmosphere and energy I was aiming at.

Further improvements:
- Much more details and a higher render quality.
- The final design would have taken even more into consideration, how the surface of the rigs is divided through its doors and ventilation parts. They would be integrated into the logic of the composition. The same counts for the supply tubes that are on top of the rigs.
- High res renderings to ensure a realistic experience for the viewers, even if you would be very close to the images.
- Integrating huge Raptor hands causing the scratches.

Big thanks to Paul Radtke for the 3D renderings!